If I was any better it'd be illegal.
That's not quite true. I've decided running the half marathon last weekend was not the best idea. It may not have even been a good idea. I was told if I ran too hard I might just hurt myself and it seems I might have done it. Above my ankle it seems like a muscle is pulled or something like that, but anytime I put pressure on my left ankle it is just about the worst thing ever.
I raced bikes on Monday, the day after the half marathon and I did pretty alright. I did most of the work during the "B" race and we averaged just above 22mph I think. Coming around the last lap I got behind a strong rider. My plan was, he would keep the pace fast for the last lap and I would just sit in and save some energy for the sprint and it seemed to have worked! I made a move coming around the final turn and I finished in first by a millimeters. Thinking back, I think I could have gone harder in the sprint, I still haven't mastered that all out-ness of a true sprint finish.
This was the sprint finish on Monday night. I made the move first and Hayden was coming from behind me but I must of just got the bike throw pretty spot on. Looking forward to more of these races on Monday nights! Not racing tomorrow; I need to let the ankle heal before it affects the rest of this season, and I'm driving 8 hours back to Michigan tomorrow, actually stopping to help a friend move into a new house!
What worked in that race on Monday night I thought was the finish. I made a move early and even though I thought the sprint could have gone better, I am very happy with the decision I made to make a move so early. I think that will be key in races in the future.
Tennessee trip has been super fun, but a lot of traveling has got me pretty wore out. Thursday night I drove to BG to stay the night, then Friday I drove down to Nashville to see Sarah Noe, which was wonderful and we had a blast! Saturday I drove down to Memphis to race bikes, which went very poorly, we aren't going to talk about that here. Memphis was a long drive but I did get to see the Mississippi river, which was large and very cool. I thought more impressive though was the Tennessee river. On the way to Memphis I crossed the TN river and it was absolutely huge! It was very pretty and the coast of the river was all trees and there was no development on the banks of the river, I wish more things were like that.
I drove back to Nashville Saturday afternoon and met Clay and Madi. We hung out at Clay's house for a while then went downtown Nashville. I always have second thoughts about going out to bars but everytime I go I really enjoy it! The bars in Nashville were a neat experience, just about every one had a live band, and it was very interesting to me that most of the people at the bars were older, not college kids like I'm used to seeing. Stayed the night with Clay and Madi Saturday night and drove to Knoxville Sunday, where I'm staying the night tonight. It's great to see Haley and Parker and Aunt Nancy. The kids are so much older now and graduating high school next week, my fondest memories of these kids are when they were 10 ish and its great to see them all grown up.
I'm hiking tomorrow morning with Parker and then driving the 8 hours back home. I have a job shadow with the accounting team at Advia on Tuesday which I'm very much looking forward to, and then I have Wednesday and Thursday off, and I can't help but think I might go on another little trip!
So my ankle hurts very bad, I think enough where I need to be very concerned about it. I mean I pulled out of the race in Memphis after two laps, part of that was due to the extreme heat but I could barely turn the pedals. I hope I can get it healed up fast, I'm hoping my roommates can help with that. Hopefully I'll be ready to go again for the Thursday night ride, but I really need to hit the training hard because racing in Memphis was a bit of a shock and disappointment after such a high of winning that race on Monday.
4/14 Eagle Creek Crit, Indianapolis, IN 12th Cat 4/5 (29)
4/22 Notre Dame Crit, South Bend, IN 12th Cat 4/5 (29)
4/29 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series 22nd Cat 4/5 (40)
5/6 Kalamazoo Half Marathon 13th (27) AG (M 19-24) / 249th (1392) Overall
5/7 131 Racing Series, Martin, MI 1st "B race" (9)
5/12 Tiger Lane Crit, Memphis, TN DNF Cat 3/4
5/28 Waterford Hills Circuit Race, Clarkston, MI
6/3 Cobb Park Crit, Kankakee, IL
6/9 BTR Crit, Kalamazoo, MI
6/10 Race for Wishes, Lawton, MI
6/15 Zeeland Crit, Zeeland, MI
7/15 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI
I'm hopeful, and can't be focusing on these little negative things. I've had a great trip and am super excited for the rest of summer. This is the first time where I feel like I don't really have a plan and it scares me a bit. I think I'm going to take the next couple days very easily, get everything in my life organized, heal up, and hit it hard from there.
Cheers! CE
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